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Ugartemendia earns inaugural Beckman Award

By Roman Petrowski, McGovern Communications
Dr. Kevin Morano, left, stands with inaugural Leslie Beckman Award recipient Lierni Ugartemendia, PhD, center, and Leslie Beckman, right, during an outdoor recognition ceremony. Ugartemendia holds her Beckman Award certificate, which honors exceptional service and dedication to the postdoctoral community at UTHealth Houston.
Kevin Morano, PhD (left), and Leslie Beckman (right) present Lierni Ugartemendia, PhD (middle) with the inaugural UTHealth Houston Beckman Award.

Lierni Ugartemendia, PhD, has been named the inaugural recipient of the UTHealth Houston Beckman Award, a new honor established by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to recognize exceptional service and leadership within the postdoctoral community.

The Beckman Award was created in honor of Leslie Beckman, whose extraordinary service and lasting contributions shaped postdoctoral training and development during her tenure with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Through her advocacy, thoughtful program development, and commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive culture, Beckman made a profound and enduring impact on the postdoctoral experience across UTHealth Houston.

“I feel deeply grateful and honored to be the inaugural recipient of the Beckman Award. It came as a complete surprise. I thought we were organizing the first Beckman Award when I learned that I was the recipient,” Ugartemendia said. “It is especially meaningful to receive an award named in honor of Leslie Beckman, whose dedication has had such a lasting impact on our postdoctoral community.”

As Ugartemendia advances her research career, she hopes to focus on the role of stress during the perinatal period and its effects on maternal health and neurodevelopment. Her work aims to identify biomarkers, including those found in extracellular vesicles, that reveal how prenatal exposures influence fetal brain development. Ultimately, she hopes to translate those biological findings into practical strategies to improve maternal health and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

In recognition of Beckman’s legacy, the Beckman Award provides up to $1,000 to postdoctoral fellows who demonstrate exemplary service to the postdoctoral community. The award celebrates service-oriented leadership, encourages meaningful engagement, and inspires future generations of postdoctoral fellows to contribute to their communities.

“As an international postdoc, Leslie and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs always provided invaluable support as I navigated the challenges of advancing my career while managing the demands of daily life with two young children,” Ugartemendia said. “Working alongside Leslie, Diana Rodriguez, PhD, and Yasmin Chebaro, PhD, my fellow postdocs, and UTHealth Houston faculty through these initiatives has been an incredibly rewarding experience.”